- Yes
- No
History and origins:
The Mil Mi-24 “Hind” was born around 1972 of a design idea for a heavy ground attack helicopter that could also transport a proud amount of landing troops in its rear cabin. While the troop transport role was soon found to be less than worthy or even usable, the Hind continued on its journey into becoming a true heavy ground attack helicopter.
Starting its origins from the Mi-24A all the way to the modern Mi-35P Phoenix, the Hind has proven itself a capable weapons system in many a conflict all around the world. It has enjoyed large export success, to around 50 countries in the world, as well as a good many number of scored victories despite its large size and even being called names such as “Satan’s Chariot”.
The Hind was actually such a good chopper that even after the re-unification of East and West Germany, the German Airforce kept this old bird in service until finally it was replaced by the Euro copter Tiger.
Many were sold off to Hungary etc but some were kept for testing at WTD-61.
One such specimen is a true head scratcher. An Mi-24D with the seeker of an MIM-23 Hawk Missile seeker in the place of its gun.
Spoiler
It’s the Mi-24D ‘98+31’. It was used by the WTD 61 in Manching during 1994. While it is not known why this seeker was attached, it is still an interesting find.
The Air DOC No. 4 (“Luftwaffe Fitter - The Su-22 in German Service”) gives the (short) answer. There is a picture inside (on page 43) with the following caption:
“For the evaluation of a HAWK SAM missile seeker head, both the Fitter’s wings were painted white.”
And the Mi-24 was the ‘carrier’ for the seeker head - strange!
The terrain bounce abilities of the SPS-141 jamming pod on the Su-22 were tested in an ‘interplay’ with the Hawk seeker head on the chin of the Mi-24D.
EDIT: i found the picture of the Su-22 in question:
Specifications
Max speed: 335 km/h
Max altitude: 4,950 m
Engine: 2 х Klimov TV3-117V
Power: 2,100 hp
Take-off weight: 12 t
Systems
- NVD
- Full CCIP
- IRCM
- Self-sealing Fuel tanks
- Armoured body
- 128 countermeasures
